Silver cored beads using the Jim Moore Bead Liner

Started by theflyingbedstead, April 19, 2014, 01:21:45 PM

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theflyingbedstead

Jim Moore Bead Liner

I recently bought this bead liner second hand, and so I didn't get any instructions with it, but there are some available on the Jim Moore website:
http://www.toolsforglass.com/catalogs/info_beadpress.html

It is a very sturdy tool based upon a ½ ton arbour press and comes with dies that will flare tubing up to 3/16". The original buyer had also bought the medium die, which is perfect for Troll or Pandora sized beads as it will flare tubing between 1/4" to 3/8". There is a larger die which flares up to 5/8" tubing, and a set of dapping balls as well as replacement dies available to purchase: http://www.toolsforglass.com/store/bead.html

There are holes in the base of the machine which can allow it to be bolted to a work bench, which I'd recommend doing as it gives the user far more pulling power!

Step 1

I used a 5mm mandrel for my beads lightly dipped in Fusion bead release. I made a load of simple clear glass beads to practice with.

Jim Moore recommends that the silver tubing should be cold drawn or come in straight pieces, and that you should never use annealed tubing or tubing that comes in a coil. He also mentioned that many people also use brass copper and aluminum tubing in their work and soft tubing can collapse when it is used in the press.

I bought 4.8mm O/D seamless silver tube from: http://www.riogrande.com/Product/Sterling-Silver-Seamless-Tubing-Hard/100905?Pos=9

I found 5mm O/D Copper tube with a 0.45mm wall from: http://maccmodels.co.uk/materials-metal/copper-sections/copper-tubes/metric-copper-tube.html

And 5mm O/D Brass tube from: http://maccmodels.co.uk/materials-metal/brass-sections/brass-tube/brass-k-s-tube-metric/5mm-dia-brass-tube-12-long.html

It is important to use beads with good dimples otherwise the beads can crack as the silver needs somewhere to move to when it is flared and beads can also break if they are not a consistent width as this can cause uneven pressure being applied.  I have ground down bead holes which aren't perfect using my Dremel and a spherical abrasive bit and that works very well providing I get the rivet to flare out to cover the ground area.



Measure the bead using digital callipers.  I experimented with different lengths and found that 3.2mm worked well for my small to medium length beads. I would advise anyone else to experiment too, as we make beads with different sized dimples.

Jim Moore recommends cutting the tubing with a mini mitre saw, as this does not harden or create large burrs inside the tubing. This means that you do not need to anneal your tubing afterwards, and so there is no fire scale to clean – a real time saver! So, if you are planning to make a lot of beads it is worth the investment as the cuts are perfect and accurate taking only a second or two. Then de-burr the edges on the inside – you can use custom made deburrers like these:



or use drill bits, and then debur the outside with sandpaper.

I have also cut my tubing using a tubing cutter, which Jim Moore does not recommend. I found that it works very well, but I had to anneal the silver. I used a plumber's blowtorch, and got the silver to glow a dull cherry red colour. If it glow orange you have over-annealed and there is a real risk that you have structurally damaged the silver. I then cleaned the tubing.

Step 2

Using the metal cone-shaped dies, position the bead and tubing in place and hold the bead in the centre of the tubing so you get an equal distribution of tube both ends and so that you don't flare out any glass.



Gently flare out the tubing and flip the bead over and repeat. Keep checking the bead – at this stage you want the bead to be able to spin around the core.





Step 3

Once the silver has spread out to this stage unscrew your dies and replace with the nylon ones. Then, carefully press, flip, press, flip and repeat until the silver has flattened over the bead equally. As with the other stages of pressing, I preferred to do this slowly and gently to get a perfect finish:



Ideally, by the end, the rivet shouldn't move inside the bead, but not be tight enough to have chipped the glass.

Step 4

Polish!



As you can see, the Jim Moore Bead Liner tends to give a flat flared out finish rather than a domed one.

Using Bead Caps

This is easily done following the same steps as before:
Measure the bead with cups in situ – I added 3.75mm to this for my silver tube length.

Flare out with the metal dies:



Then switch to the nylon dies:





At this stage I had pressed as far as I could safely on the bead liner. But the rivet wasn't fully set in place and so I finished off by using a rubber bench block and a repousse hammer to very gently tap the edge of the rivet lip down. This had an additional effect in that it gave a slightly domed lip to the rivet! This is my polished bead:



Long Beads

Long beads are also easy to line, and I experimented with the length and found that adding 5mm worked well for this 45mm long bead.



As before, line up the bead so that it is centred on the tubing, and press one end, flip then press the next. Repeat until the lip has flared over as below and change to the nylon dies:



As this is a long bead, I finished off the flaring process by hand using my rubber block and repousse hammer – this is the finished bead below:





These are my finished test beads:



I hope that you have enjoyed reading my review – feedback is welcome!
Charlotte x

Carefulkate

You give a beautiful description of all these machines Do you collect them ? Every time i read an explanation I get machine envy need to keep my eyes peeled for one second hand
Thank you for taking the time to show them all off do you have a favourite ?
;D

theflyingbedstead

Quote from: Carefulkate on April 19, 2014, 03:27:58 PM
You give a beautiful description of all these machines Do you collect them ? Every time i read an explanation I get machine envy need to keep my eyes peeled for one second hand
Thank you for taking the time to show them all off do you have a favourite ?
;D

Er...I wasn't planning to collect them...but it seems I have  ::)

I love them all.

Charlotte x